


Two Broke Lesbians Living in a Van

by writeskatelive



Category: Nancy Drew (TV 2019)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-11
Updated: 2020-07-11
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:13:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,359
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25202239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writeskatelive/pseuds/writeskatelive
Summary: Trigger warning: police brutalityLisbeth walks away from her job as a police officer after she witnesses the corruption, brutality, and racism in the force.
Relationships: Lisbeth/Bess Marvin
Comments: 4
Kudos: 27





	Two Broke Lesbians Living in a Van

Lisbeth’s hands were shaking so hard she could barely grip the steering wheel. Sweat ran down her neck in thin, cold rivulets, soaking the collar of her blazer. Her fingers had gone numb, and her chest tightened as she pulled up beside the old van. Although the July heat was sweltering, she felt frozen from the inside. Summers in Horseshoe Bay were hot but wet, and the air clung to her clammy skin like cruel ghosts.

Judging from the warm, merry light glowing in the trailer window, Bess would be rushing out to greet her any minute now. On most nights, just the sight of Bess’s rundown little van and the promise of the sunny, adorable girl who lived inside were enough to put Lisbeth in a cheerful mood. But tonight, she felt incapable of breathing, and her own fragility frustrated her. She was not the one who had nearly died today. She was not the one who had begged for mercy under the unforgiving boot of Officer Rawley.

She was the one who had stood by and watched.

Her limbs were still tingling, her heartbeats still rattling like shrapnel in her chest, from the incident that morning. Nick, one of Bess’s friends, had been leaving the Marvin mansion after spending several hours questioning Bess’s relatives about Owen’s murder. George had been on the other side of the property, confronting Ryan Hudson, and Bess had been upstairs, talking to her Aunt Dianna. Lisbeth had been interrogating one of Bess’s cousins when she’d heard the racket outside.

When she sprinted out the front door, she found Officer Rawley kneeling on a man’s back, trying to pin him to the ground. As she approached, she realized that the captive was Nick.

“Hey, what’s this about?” said Lisbeth. “That’s Nick.”

“I know who he is,” said Rawley. “He’s the guy who murdered Owen Marvin.”

Nick was struggling under Rawley’s hold, trying to shake him off. Rawley twisted Nick’s arm behind his back and planted one boot between Nick’s shoulder blades.

Lisbeth frowned. “How are you so sure he’s the one? You don’t have any more evidence on him than you have on any of those people in the house.”

“He’s got a record. And he was poking around all morning with that girl, trying to make us suspect one of the Marvins.” Rawley cocked his head. “Not to mention, people around here are saying Owen Marvin stole his girl. Seems like a regular case of jealousy.”

“Let him go, Rawley. We don’t have anything on him.”

Rawley shrugged. “I mean, look at him.”

Nick thrashed hard, throwing Rawley off balance, but the cop brought his knee down on Nick’s back, knocking him facedown on the pavement. Blood spurted from Nick’s temple as he cried out. As he lifted his head, Rawley slammed him down again, and Nick’s nose crunched under the blow.

“Stop!” Lisbeth screamed. “You’ll kill him!”

But Rawley did not stop.

And Lisbeth had snapped.

She flung herself upon Rawley, shoving him away from Nick. Her fist cracked against his jaw, and his head reeled to the side. He swung a punch, but she dodged and rammed her knee into his gut. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Nick rolling out of the way and scrambling to his feet.

“Enough!”

Chief McGinnis’s voice cut across the courtyard, turning them both to stone. Lisbeth and Rawley stumbled back as the chief placed himself between them, aiming a steady glare at both of them.

“What do you think you’re doing?” he bellowed. “Both of you, explain yourselves.”

The chief had put them both in the back of his squad car and questioned them back at the station. Rawley had smiled and swaggered through the entire interrogation, claiming that he had just been serving the force and fighting crime. By the time McGinnis turned his inquiries on Lisbeth, she was trembling with rage – not just towards Rawley, but towards the entire police force that had allowed this to happen.

She had heard stories about police brutality before, especially towards people of color, but she had always dismissed them as the work of a single  _ dirty cop _ . She had been raised to believe that the police were protectors of justice, not perpetrators of crime. But in that office, the air seemed to hum with a new, terrifying truth, and she couldn’t bear it.

So she had quit.

“Lisbeth!” The door to the trailer glided open, and Bess’s pretty face peered out. “Are you going to just park there all night, or are you coming in?”

Lisbeth startled and opened the car door. Her legs felt unsteady as she tried to cover the ten feet of the pebbled path that separated her from the van. “Sorry. I just had a long day.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry.” Bess kissed her on the cheek and smiled. “Come on in, I made cookies!”

Lisbeth clambered inside and sank onto the narrow bed. The van was small and overflowing with handbags, shoes, and bargains from Old Navy, but Bess had managed to make it a charming little haven for them. Although she now spent some nights in the spacious bedroom of her aunt’s mansion, Bess insisted on using the trailer for date nights. It was an unspoken fact that Aunt Dianna did not like Lisbeth, and she only allowed Bess to continue the relationship because she believed Lisbeth could serve as a mole to bring down the Marvins’ longtime archenemies, the Hudsons.

And now that Lisbeth was unemployed, Aunt Dianna would have no use for her.

Bess held up a tray of small, heart-shaped cookies. “I think I might’ve left them in the oven too long. You see, I didn’t want them to be too doughy, but the next thing I knew, they were turning all brown and crispy.” She froze as she saw Lisbeth’s expression. “You don’t like them?”

“No! No, it’s not that.” Lisbeth swallowed. “They – they look beautiful.”

“You really think so?” Bess picked one up and turned it over between her fingers, as if she was a jeweler inspecting a diamond. “I hope I didn’t mess them up. I ran out of chocolate chips, so I had to add some white chocolate–”

“They’re fine, Bess.” Lisbeth grabbed one off the plate and took a bite to prove it. Usually, she enjoyed Bess’s homemade desserts no matter what calamity had befallen their poor baker, but the cookie felt flat and dry on her tongue.

“Are you sure?” Bess took a dainty bite, then frowned. “I think I added too much flour.”

Lisbeth shrugged. “It doesn’t matter.”

Bess sank down next to her. “What’s wrong? You’re not acting like yourself.”

“I’m fine.” She rubbed her temples. “It’s just been a long day.”

“Lisbeth.” Bess’s British accent snapped hard on the name. It was not merely a word; it was a command. “Tell me.”

Lisbeth opened her mouth to speak, but her throat felt swollen shut. Bess’s large eyes were burning through her, demanding an answer, and she couldn’t handle the electric shock that beautiful gaze was sending through her body. She stared ahead at the pair of pink cowboy boots that had somehow ended up leaning against the hamper.

“I quit the police force.”

She risked glancing at Bess to see her reaction. Bess’s delicate hand had flown up to cover her gaping mouth, and her eyes were wide with shock. She looked like she was trying to say something, but no sound came out. Taking a deep breath, she lowered her hand and laced her fingers together. “Okay.”

_ Okay _ . There were so many questions behind that single word.  _ Okay, do you want to explain why? Okay, what are you going to do now? Okay, how is this going to affect us? _

Lisbeth swallowed. “They…they almost killed Nick.”

Bess gasped. “What? Who did this? What happened?”

“While you were inside with your Aunt Dianna, Nick was leaving the Marvin house. Officer Rawley tried to arrest him for Owen’s murder.”

“How? Nick would never do anything like that. He was trying to  _ help  _ you guys investigate what happened. This makes no sense.”

“It doesn’t have to make sense. Rawley was convinced that Nick had killed Owen. Not because there was any evidence to support the theory, but…because he’s Black.”

Bess covered her mouth with both hands. “Oh, Lisbeth, what did they do to him?”

“Rawley had him pinned on the ground, and when Nick tried to fight back, Rawley slammed his face against the pavement. I told him to stop, but he wouldn’t listen.” Lisbeth closed her eyes. “I don’t think he cared if Nick lived or died. And the whole time…Nick didn’t fight. He was just trying to get up long enough to tell Rawley what had really happened.”

Bess’s eyes were sparkling with tears. “I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.”

“I hit him.” Lisbeth swallowed. “I hit Rawley so he would let Nick go. McGinnis stopped the fight before anyone got too hurt, but I…I wish he hadn’t. One punch wasn’t enough for what Rawley tried to do. And when I was sitting in the office, I just started wondering how many more cops like Rawley are doing this every day. And how many of them get away with it.”

“You did the right thing,” Bess whispered. “I’m so proud of you.”

Lisbeth sighed. “It’s not enough. Chief McGinnis fired Rawley, but they still haven’t managed to press any charges. If we can find who really killed Owen, then we can clear Nick’s name and rule it a wrongful arrest, but still…” Her hands curled into fists. “It’s not good enough.”

The waver in her own voice felt unnatural. In her three years as a state police officer, she had seen many horrors. She had been called to dozens of crime scenes where victims had been stabbed, slashed, and even dismembered. She knew the smell of blood like most people knew the smell of coffee. But she had never watched one of her own comrades hurt someone in front of her.

And no matter how much she patted herself on the back for storming out of the police station, she couldn’t help wondering if she would’ve done the same if she hadn’t known the man getting crushed under Rawley’s boot.

Lisbeth was no stranger to discrimination. Being a lesbian in a small town had its difficulties, and the men in the police academy had frequently belittled her for being a woman. But she knew no one would ever hurt her for the creamy white skin that protected her bones.

“I joined the force because I wanted to help people,” said Lisbeth. “Everybody told me I couldn’t do it, but I worked twice as hard to get to the top because I thought I was making a difference. But all along, I was just creating more problems, more violence, more death.”

Bess wrapped her arm around her shoulders and nestled Lisbeth’s head into her neck. Usually, it was Lisbeth who played the role of comforter, her calm logic providing stability against Bess’s fluttery, high-strung nature. But right now, she felt hollow and lost, and Bess’s touch offered a glimmer of light in the shadowy unknown.

“Lisbeth, I fell in love with you because you are one of the only people I’ve ever really trusted. I feel safe with you because I know you’re a good person. It’s not your fault that the whole American police system is a bloody mess. I’m sure it’s no better in Britain.”

“Aw, thanks.” A hint of a smile pressed into Lisbeth’s mouth. “Sorry for being such a drag tonight. You worked so hard to make those cookies, and I’m being rude by not enjoying them.”

Bess scoffed and sat up straight. “That’s ridiculous! You just decided to quit the career you’ve been chasing your whole life because a cop tried to kill one of our friends, and you’re worried about my burnt cookies that don’t even have the right amount of chocolate chips?”

“No, I mean it.” Lisbeth placed her hand on Bess’s knee. “I guess I just don’t know what I’m going to do right now. Being a cop was my whole life, and now…it’s like I don’t even know who I am without the badge.”

“That’s okay.” Bess cupped Lisbeth’s cheek in her cool hand. “I know exactly who you are. You’re a smart, ambitious, sexy, badass woman who stands up for what she believes in and never hesitates to do what’s right.”

She pulled Lisbeth in for a kiss. Bess’s warm, soft mouth curved into a smile, and Lisbeth’s lips followed her lead. No matter how dire the circumstances could be, Bess had a loyal heart and an optimistic spirit that could guide someone out of the darkest night, and Lisbeth couldn’t help but laugh as she lost herself in her girlfriend’s easy presence.

“Well, there’s one good thing about this whole situation,” said Lisbeth. “I won’t have to worry about being undercover anymore.”

Bess smiled and stroked her cheek. “Exactly. I mean, think of it this way. All this time that you’ve been a cop has been like being undercover. And now you can just be yourself—whoever that is.”

Lisbeth laughed drily. “Unemployed.”

Bess’s eyes brightened with a new idea. “You could come work at the Claw. George isn’t that bad, once you get to know her. And you’d look so cute in one of those little uniforms.”

“No, no, no.” Lisbeth elbowed her in the side. “I don’t do ruffles.”

“Then you can work in the kitchen with Ace! Or I’m sure George would be more than happy to give you his job.”

Lisbeth tilted her head, considering. “As long as it doesn’t involve any cops, I’m down for it.”

Bess laughed. “As long as Nancy’s still working there, there’ll always be cops around. That girl can’t go two days without doing something to get herself in trouble.” She giggled playfully. “But wherever you go, I’m coming with you. We’re in this together.”

Lisbeth lifted Bess’s chin and went in for a kiss. “Sounds like a plan.”

  
  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> This story is dedicated to all the brave people fighting for the Black Lives Matter movement. I’m such a fan of Bess and Lisbeth’s relationship (it’s my favorite part of the Nancy Drew series tbh!) and I wanted to make Lisbeth stand up for what’s right, even if it meant losing her job.
> 
> On a personal note, I want to say that Bess and Lisbeth’s story has been such an important part of my life lately. I grew up loving the original Nancy Drew books, but this new series is exactly what I needed right now. As a queer Asian American girl, having a gay Bess and an Asian George was more than I could ever have imagined as a child. The characters have been completely reinvented, but they still have that unique charm that reminds me of the original books. I adore this show so much and I really hope the second season will come out soon!


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